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In 2024, a CLAMP Exhibition was held at the Tokyo National Art Center. It covered the group’s extensive history, with all sorts of works based on its manga on display. Two art books appeared as a means of remembering and commemorating the pieces on display, and Yen Press picked up CLAMP Official Artbook: Color Kuro and Color Shiro so everyone worldwide could eventually see them. With Color Kuro available now, it’s clearly a gorgeous representation of the group’s work in a lavish compilation.
Now, the first thing to know is that the CLAMP Official Artbook: Color Kuro is a relatively large art book. It’s between an A4 and B4 size page at 8.25 inches by 11.75 inches. This means we’re seeing each work in a lot of detail. Lots of series are covered throughout, with the earliest pieces being ones from ones in 1991 like CLAMP School Detectives, Man of Many Faces, and X. Later works slip in too, such as Gate 7 (2011), Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (2022), and Kobato (2010). So there’s a great assortment spanning the group’s career.
However, there are some minor viewing issues. You can’t lie this CLAMP art book perfectly flat, as you’ll risk breaking the binding if you do. This means for the two-page spreads, of which there are a good amount, you’re missing details. This is especially true of some Man of Many Faces and an X piece. In most cases, you’re only missing part of a weapon, sleeve, or edge of a character design. Given how elaborate some costumes are though, I was a little disappointed that, say, I couldn’t exactly see Kazuhiko’s cuff due to it falling between the pages and into the fold.
This is also a collection where everything is presented without commentary. Each page of CLAMP Official Artbook: Color Kuro is completely dedicated to focusing on the image in front of you. In a way it’s nice. Nothing is detracting from the art. You can take in the image as the artists intended. However, that also means no commentary on what we’re seeing. More importantly, it means a reference to what it is, in the event it is a piece you are unfamiliar with, is buried in the back. As there are no page numbers or labels of any sort, you need to rely on the small thumbnails next to the information stating the series, its original usage, and the year it was created. I am glad that information does appear in the appendix, so there is some citation. However, I think I’d have appreciated a slightly larger page that included that exact context in a single sentence at the bottom.
At the very least, I do think it’s all organized in a way that will help protect and preserve the works we’re seeing. There is a rather nice slipcover on the paperback, which I appreciate. The original cover has this fantastic design with a bunch of the pieces in diamonds across the front and back. The page quality is good inside, and everything is well bound together.
CLAMP is an incredible group of mangaka and the CLAMP Official Artbook: Color Kuro art book is a lovely example of its work over the years. I do wish there were a few minor changes to make viewing and checking information about each piece inside of the book a bit easier. However, it’s still a lovely collection that’s handled quite well.
CLAMP Official Artbook: Color Kuro is available now via Yen Press, and Kodansha is handling Color Shiro.
